Need advice about the vaccine, but who do I talk to? (Gp can’t help)

[SomeKindOfFloppyWeirdo]

I’m posting here in the hope that someone has been in the same situation or is a doctor and can point me in the right direction

My covid vaccine is booked for next week, quite excited about it, but I have a health condition that leaves me with a high heart rate and sometimes quite badly short of breath.

I talked to my gp about this, as I’ll likely have Astra Zeneca vaccine and there is the tiny tiny possibility of a blood clot. While I’m not too worried about this, one of the symptoms to look out for is shortness of breath. I raised this with my gp, as I wasn’t sure if I would recognise whether the shortness of breath was due to a potential blood clot, or just my usual shortness of breath. They weren’t very sure, but did advise that I should postpone the vaccine if I’m feeling ill/short of breath in the day. (I’m short of breath pretty much all the time so that’s confusing/frustrating as I actually want to be vaccinated!)

Is there any kind of vaccine advice line/place that could help with this? I’m between consultants for treatment at the moment as they’re passing me between consultants while they try to work out what’s actually wrong with me, so no one to ask for advice there.

Or a way to ask for a different type of vaccine? I’m 43 if that makes a difference.

Thanks for any advice!

Slightly off subject, but I too am a teacher and suffered from shortness of breath for many years, with lots of tests and no diagnosis. The one year I started to lose my voice a lot - the joys of being a teacher - and OH referred me to speech therapy. The therapist mentioned my shortness of breath issue, and taught me some breathing exercises. She pointed out that it’s quite common in teachers as our job is to talk all the time!. After practicing the exercises I noticed a vast improvement in my breathing. I’d ask your GP for a SALT referral to rule out breathing problems, it certainly can’t do you my harm.

Their only concern seems to be about patients on blood thinners. If you take medications for this your Gp or consultant should advise you.

People expect far too much from GPs. Without putting down what is a difficult job and requires them to undergo extensive training, the field of medicine is too vast for them to be experts on everything, or even simply informed on everything. With covid-19 in particular they know little because even the medical scientists studying it know little.

So if you ask 10 GPs this question OP, you'll get a range of answers that are all essentially educated guesses.

I do think you're over emphasising the risk of clots though - if I were you and suffered from shortness of breath, I'd be desperate to get vaccinated asap because I'd worry that I'd face extra risk from covid which is still around!

@Grimbelina

If you are thinking of not having it because of the risk of a clot, do also consider that you may be much, much more vulnerable if you do have a heart condition if you catch Covid... and the risk of a blood clot with Covid is approximately 9 times that of the risk with a vaccine.

This

I honestly don’t know how much clearer I can be that I am definitely having the vaccine. 😂😂

I’ve checked back in my posts and I can’t see anywhere where I’ve said I don’t want it, and plenty of posts where I’ve said I’m quite excited about getting it/will definitely have it regardless.

The original question was - Is there any kind of vaccine advice line/place that could help with this (monitoring potential after effects)? I’m between consultants for treatment at the moment while they try to work out what’s actually wrong with me, so no one to ask for advice there.

And bookworm1632 I asked that precisely because I’m aware that it’s not an easy question for a gp to answer as it’s such a new/specialised area. Hence wondering if there is a more specialised advice line. No gp bashing from me that I can see

Soontobe60 That’s really interesting! Frustrating for you to go through all of the tests, but it’s great that they found out what was causing it and that the breathing exercises helped. I’ll add that to my list of things to ask my next consultant/next gp appointment.

I’ve been teaching for about 20 years, so this could be my body’s way of telling me I need a career change!

notagainmummy no blood thinners here, so that’s another positive

I think there are lots of health issues where symptoms would look like side effects eg I have daily migraine and breathlessness so wouldn't necessarily notice a headache or being sob, I wouldn't over think it too much, the risk of the particular clot is very low, obviously if afterwards things feel different as to what is usual for you then speak to your GP.

Have the vaccine then seek help if you get short of breath. You can have your platelets and clotting checked at that time to see if it's out

Yes, I empathise with you OP. Went to GP, was told to try online, which said to call 119, who told me to enquire at vaccine centre, who told me to contact GP, who told me to contact 119 ….

My friends in Australia, Japan, Germany, US, France, Singapore, Italy are like

I also have regular shortness of breath, and had shortness of breath after my vaccine. I wasn't sure if it was my 'usual' or something worse, so the GP told me to go to A&E just in case. A&E were very sympathetic, did a few tests to confirm it wasn't something new/serious and sent me back home.

I'm not aware of any specialist vaccine line etc, but don't be afraid to get checked out afterwards if you're not sure if your symptoms are vaccine-related.

athinginitself daily migraines must be horrible to deal with! I think not overthinking is a very good idea and I will do my best

raffegiraffe That is a good plan and I think my only option It is reassuring that the blood test is relatively easily available - that takes away some of the worry for people.

blackflower round and round in circles! I can imagine it all looks very weird to your friends in other countries! I hope this thread has a t least reassured you that you’re not alone!

mamanchen That sounds like very good advice. It’s a relief your gp didn’t try to fob you off, and you could get the reassurance. Honestly, the things our bodies put us through!